Colorado quarterback Steven Montez, left, joins quarterback Josh Goldin and their teammates in singing the school song after the second half of an NCAA college football game against Arizona State on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Boulder, Colo. Colorado won 28-21. David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Colorado quarterback Steven Montez, left, jokes with quarterback Josh Goldin as they sing the school song after the second half of an NCAA college football game against Arizona State Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Boulder, Colo. Colorado won 28-21. David Zalubowski/Associated Press

The wide-eyed young boy never played quarterback until his ninth-grade season. And then he was injured just a couple of games into that season.

So, truly, he began his quarterback journey as a Del Valle High School sophomore.

And now Steven Montez is putting up sparkling numbers while leading the University of Colorado to a 5-0 start, to a beginning that has the Buffaloes ranked 19th in the nation.

This is the journey of an intelligent, confident, competitive young man, and it is most certainly the journey of a very athletic young man.

And he never doubted the journey.

While some might step onto the campus of a Pac-12 school wondering if they would be able to play football at that level, Montez said: "I always believed in myself. I went in thinking I would be the starter.

Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Steven Montez (12) warms up before an NCAA college football game Friday, Sept. 28, 2018, in Boulder, Colo.(Photo11: David Zalubowski/Associated Press)

"That wasn't the case," he said. "I redshirted and I spent the whole year learning the playbook, lifting weights, getting stronger, so I could play at that level."

Today, Montez is a strapping 6 feet 5 inches tall, a trim and athletic 235 pounds, and he and his teammates are preparing to take on USC on Saturday night in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Montez has completed 115 of 153 passes for 1,420 yards, 11 touchdowns and only two interceptions. His completion percentage of 75.2 percent is tied for best in the nation —the entire nation — with Alabama's rock star Tua Tagovailo. His quarterback rating of 174.2 is 10th best in the country.

The beginning

That is now, but let us take a look at then, at where all this scoreboard-lighting, national television quarterbacking began.

"Growing up, I only played a little football," he said. "My parents divorced and I moved to Arizona. I went to a Pop Warner team and they didn't think my arm was strong enough to play quarterback, so they put me at defensive end and wide receiver.

"So, I kind of lost interest in football," he said. "Basketball became my main sport. Then I moved to El Paso just before high school and my dad helped me with my mechanics."

His father, Alfred Montez, himself a former quarterback, laughed at the recollection.

Colorado quarterback Steven Montez, left, joins quarterback Josh Goldin and their teammates in singing the school song after the second half of an NCAA college football game against Arizona State on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Boulder, Colo. Colorado won 28-21.(Photo11: David Zalubowski/Associated Press)

"I went over there (to Arizona) and here was this kid with a mohawk, skateboarding everywhere," the dad said. "They didn't have middle school football where he was. They were playing him at left tackle on the Pop Warner team."

Alfred Montez and Del Valle coach Jesse Perales were teammates and roommates at Western New Mexico. It was only a matter of time before all that football filtered in.

"Coach was like my uncle," Steven Montez said of Perales. "He's known me my whole life."

Perales said, "I've known Steven all his life. His dad and I were teammates, roommates, brothers. Steven came in here his freshman year and he was this lanky kid. He was really, really a good athlete, and he was already almost 6-2. But he was skinny as a noodle.

"I was just ecstatic that he was here," Perales said. "He played a game on our freshman team and we moved him up to the JV. Sophomore year, he started from day one. His senior year, he put our team on his back. He made everyone around him better."

Alfred Montez was and still is a member of the Del Valle coaching staff. Raymond, Steven's younger brother, is now the starting quarterback there.

But it was a rough beginning for Steven.

Colorado quarterback Steven Montez, left, jokes with quarterback Josh Goldin as they sing the school song after the second half of an NCAA college football game against Arizona State Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Boulder, Colo. Colorado won 28-21.(Photo11: David Zalubowski/Associated Press)

"I got hurt, broke the growth plate in the elbow on my throwing arm," he said. "I did it throwing. My mechanics were so bad. I would drop my right arm on deep throws. My dad sent some film of me to his old quarterback coach with the Oakland Raiders and he sent back some suggestions.

"My dad did a lot to help my mechanics," he said. "For a long time, I was scared to throw it hard. That's how I hurt it. Gradually, I grew more and more confident in it and I was able to throw."

Del Valle went 8-3 his sophomore season, 8-4 his junior season and 11-2 his senior season. He completed 62.9 percent of his passes, threw for 6,512 yards and 86 touchdowns against only 15 interceptions in his high school career.

"Steven and his brother, Raymond, are both great leaders, just good people," Perales said. "Always doing the right thing. Always coachable. We always knew Steven would do what he is doing now. Myself and our staff were disappointed more of the Texas colleges didn't come after him. We get together as a staff every weekend now and watch Steven."

Steven Montez said, "It really came down to just Colorado and UTEP. I wanted to go away, to broaden my experience."

One might think Alfred Montez had a grand plan, orchestrating a path for his two boys following in his quarterback footsteps: He played one year with the Oakland Raiders. But he said nothing is further from the truth.

"No, no, no ... It wasn't even a hope," he said. "They kind of grew up around it. I was the head coach over at Deming and they were always at the field house. But I never pushed them into football. I just hoped I raised a couple of boys who were good boys, who knew the difference between right and wrong."

Brotherly love and competition

Buy Photo

Del Valle quarterback Raymond Montez stands on the sidelines with his big brother, Steven Montez, a Del Valle graduate and former high school quarterback who now starts for the University of Colorado Buffaloes.(Photo11: Rudy Gutierrez/El Paso Times)

The two brothers are close even though they are almost four years apart. They both laugh now at the competitive battles they had growing up.

"We could have been 15 years apart and we would have competed," Raymond Montez said, laughing. "It was everything and it was every day. Who was better at video games, who could beat who in basketball, whatever. We battled."

Steven Montez laughed and said, "I think I'm about three and a half years older than Raymond and we competed literally in everything. We were at each other's throats. There was a period when I was eight or nine and he was five or six when our competition got really heated, out of control."

Pausing, laughing again, he said, "We're brothers. And I guess that has made us the people we are today."

And even Dad can laugh about it — now.

"I'd come home and one of them would have a knot on his head," Alfred Montez said. "I think Raymond broke his hand on Steven's head one time. He was in a cast. But they are good boys and they work hard and they have both grown up to be so coachable.

"We're lucky to have them at Del Valle," the dad said. "They have always made us look like a lot smarter coaches."

Raymond Montez said: "It's fun to go watch him play. We went during our bye week for the Arizona State game. I'll always cheer for him."

And back to the present

Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Steven Montez (12) in the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Boulder, Colo. (Photo11: David Zalubowski/Associated Press)

Steven Montez is undoubtedly an excellent athlete. And he believes the multitude of sports he played as a young boy made him a better quarterback today.

"Definitely ... definitely," he said. "I played soccer when I was a little kid and I loved it. I scored a ton of goals. I played a lot of basketball, played on a club team called Latino Select. New Mexico State offered me a scholarship in basketball, but, by then, I was all into football.

"So much of it is so similar," he said. "Especially the footwork. I'll make a cut in football and it's like a crossover in basketball. All the footwork in all the sports helps."

Dad said, "I put them in soccer when they were little because of the footwork and I put them in wrestling for the strength and flexibility. Steven was really a good wrestler and Raymond is really good and still wrestles."

Just to prove a point and also to have a little fun, Steven Montez ran track his senior year in high school. He high jumped 6 feet 6 inches and advanced to regionals, and he long jumped almost 21 feet.

"I just wanted to try everything," he said. "And I just wanted to show colleges I was athletic enough to recruit. Apparently, Colorado liked it."

And so here he is ... Steven Montez, quarterback at the University of Colorado, lighting scoreboards and grabbing national attention.

Montez started three games in 2016 as a redshirt freshman, despite Colorado having standout quarterback Sefo Liufau. Montez, due to injuries, started those three games. He was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week one week and he was co-recipient of the Lee Willard award as Colorado's outstanding freshman.

He started all last season and won the John Mack Award as Colorado's outstanding offensive player. He had three 300-plus-yard passing performances in a row, a first in Colorado football history.

And now, in 2018, as a redshirt junior, it is really coming into focus. The young man who never really played this rough and tumble game's showcase position until he was a sophomore in high school sees the game coming into focus.

"I played decently last year," he said. "But I didn't play at the level I expected. Really, it was like high school all over again — the progressions each year. Now, this year, it's really clicking. I'm understanding the game. Everything is starting to slow down, really come into focus."

USC coach Clay Helton, in a post-practice media session this week, said Montez "is as good a decision-maker maybe in our league right now."

Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre told the Pac-12 Network: "Steven is very charismatic. He loves playing, he loves people and he has high energy. He has a lot of fun doing what he does. He's a lot of fun to be around and guys feed off his energy."

And, at Pac-12 Media Day, MacIntyre said: "We're excited about Steven and seeing him improve in the understanding of the game. He's kind of gone from algebra to calculus and really understands it. It's pretty impressive what he's done off the field in that area."

And so here he is.

Steven Montez, from the young boy on a skateboard, playing soccer and basketball, to center stage in the grand theater of college football. He was placed on the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, the award given to college football's Player of the Year.

It has been quite the journey and the journey continues ... a joyous, golden flecked romp through college football. Would he like to take his football to that next level, to the NFL?